Wednesday, 10 August 2011

Invisible Seam (Reverse Mattress Stitch) - Joining Crochet Squares

I've been meaning to share some of my joining methods for ages.  I shall start with my Invisible Seam which joins squares flatly (no big ridges at the front or back)  and is a nice sturdy join.  It's almost the same as the Mattress Stitch but is worked with the wrong sides facing and through the two back loops of each stitch.

Invisible Seam - Right Side



Invisible Seam - Wrong Side

I've used a contrasting yarn for the photographs so that you can see what's going on and how the sewing disappears.

Begin with wrong sides facing and join yarn in the corner of each square.  Personally I use a figure of eight, leaving a long tail which I weave in later, but you can get the yarn started in whichever way you prefer.

Step 1:
Take needle through the two back loops of the first stitch of the left square, moving left to right...



Step 2:
Insert needle through the two back loops of the opposite stitch on the right square, moving right to left...


Repeat these two steps in the next few stitches and then pull the yarn to tighten the seam (this is when the yarn will disappear!!!)...

Tightening the yarn

Continue Step 1 and Step 2 and remember to tighten the yarn every few stitches until the squares are joined and end yarn as you would normally.

This method works really, really well for joining different coloured squares together like granny squares or the Babette Blanket and you don't have to be too concerned what colour you use to join as long as its fairly neutral.

Hope this makes enough sense to help some folks!

Happy Hooking!

Leonie x
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19 comments:

  1. Paula10 August 2011 at 15:39

    I'll have to try this joining method. I usually join on the go as I find it easier and saves yarn but in some cases I think sewing the squares or other shapes together gives better results.

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  2. Baban Cat10 August 2011 at 17:54

    Makes perfect sense! I've mostly used the double crochet join because I quite like the added texture. As you say this is great for joining different colours. I just have to remember it now!

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  3. Kelly Jo13 August 2011 at 03:20

    Thank you so much for posting this! I could not figure out how to do this type of join!

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  4. Ati 9 September 2011 at 08:05

    Thank you! I sewed my Babette together almost the same but took only one thread of the loop. It might be stronger when I take two :)

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  5. salexa15 April 2012 at 13:35

    I can't wait to try......thank you for posting.

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  6. Karin5 September 2012 at 20:04

    Thanks for the great tutorial. It really works! Very helpful for my babette-esque blanket.

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  7. testblogger12318 February 2013 at 03:47

    thanks!!! It worked perfectly! Great instructions :)

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  8. SueCougar22 April 2013 at 21:29

    Tried this out and it works great! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  9. Zoe22 May 2013 at 02:47

    These are great instructions! Thanks for this post.

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  10. Unknown24 May 2013 at 18:54

    Thanks for this I am about to start joining my babette blanket, do yo have any tips for making sure the corners go together neatly - I have heard they can be problematic!

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  11. WoolnHook26 May 2013 at 10:29

    The best way to make the corners neat is to block all the squares first. Or, when all the squares have been joined, sew a tight cross stitch through each corner to pull the stitches together. If you sew the cross stitch through the back loops on the wrong side it shouldn't be visible.

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  12. Cathy Tucci26 July 2013 at 02:27

    Thank you so much for sharing your invisible seem. I'm working on my first blanket for my first grandson and didn't want a ridge when I joined the squares. The design is a gingham check and I'm using earth tones (brown, green, and tan). This is just want I needed to join them. Fifteen more squares to go and then I start joining!

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  13. Anonymous26 September 2013 at 14:49

    Thank You Thank You THANK YOU!!! Im new to crochet and am making my son a patchwork quilt (a small one to begin with) and Ive been a good few hours trying to get my squares together using single crochet and sewing. Didnt like the results, stumbled across this page and had two squares looking fab within 10 minutes so thank youuuuuu loving the result xx love from helen in UK xx

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  14. licia23 October 2013 at 12:32

    Thank you! You helped me a lot!

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  15. Kismet11 December 2013 at 02:07

    LOVE this tutorial - thank you so much for taking the time to share. Greatly appreciated.

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  16. trishgager3 February 2014 at 15:08

    I am making a cancer blanket for someone which requires a ton of granny squares. I was looking for a seamless way to put them together and came across your tutorial. I am going to try it, but was wondering how you finish off.

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    Replies
    1. WoolnHook7 February 2014 at 15:08

      Hi, I just sew the end back about 3 - 4 inches in a zig zag. Hope the tutorial helps and I'd love to see your finished blanket!

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  17. MicT8 January 2015 at 12:35

    Thanks so much for this tutorial. I'm making a Babette blanket and this is such a neat joining method and it really is invisible, which is brill as I can use one yarn colour to go up the row of different squares. And looking on your ravelry store I found a lovely scarf pattern too, so i have bought that and I am going to start hooking that alongside my Babette and other WIPs! Thanks for taking the time to provide this tutorial for free, it has really made a difference to the look of my blanket. :-)

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  18. Shavavian Allister 27 January 2017 at 14:31

    This is perfect!! I was looking for a different way to join my squares for this Woodland Creatures blanket I've almost finished in c2c. The photos are the same on the front and back (just flipped) and I didn't want one side marred by the bulky sc or sl st join I normally do. Thank you!!

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